Ulster set for RDS showdown

While the merits of changing the rules of the competition mid-season can be debated long and hard it won’t detract from what was always going to be a must win game in Dublin.

With the season being shortened to accommodate the Rainbow Cup, which will see the introduction of four South African franchises into Celtic Rugby, only one of last year’s finalist will be able to make this season’s Pro14 decider as only the two conference winners progress.

Ulster are now the only unbeaten team in both conferences, Dan McFarland’s side made it 10 wins out of 10 ending Munster’s perfect start to the season with a 15-10 victory at Kingspan Stadium, while at the RDS Connacht ended Leinster’s 26-game winning streak in the domestic competition.

Ulster travel to Dublin with a 10-point lead over the reigning champions but Leinster have two games in hand. A win on Friday night would give Ulster one foot in the Pro14 final although the sides are scheduled to meet later in the season.

Ulster have had only one win against Leinster in Dublin since 1999, and while McFarland acknowledges the extent of the challenge he also knows that the fortress RDS can be breached as Connacht showed.

“Are we a better team than Leinster? We’d have to beat them at home as well later on so effectively, over a season, we’d be saying that,” reasoned McFarland. “Are we good enough? We can do it, definitely, the probability of it? You only have to ask the bookies, have a look at what the odds are.

“They’re normally pretty accurate, they had us at seven points against Munster so not far off, they won’t predict us to win next week, that’s the bottom line, are we capable of winning down there? 100 per cent.

“What it means is we have to be absolutely on the money which is better than we were this week but we knew that anyway, that’s exciting.

“We’ve played ten games, we’ve still got six left to play, there’s plenty of opportunities to not be in position for that top spot.

“I think in terms of the entertainment value and the competition, there’s an added interest to it, for you guys, the supporters and certainly for us in our preparation.

“If we could win down there, then we’ll put ourselves in a really good position for kicking on, if we don’t, it’s taken out of our hands, they’ve more bonus-points than us.”

Ulster and Munster may have lacked the festive fizz with no points scored between the 28 and 82 minutes but there is plenty for McFarland to take out of the game.

A tenth consecutive win, Ireland U20’s captain David McCann making his first start, prop Callum Reid and scrum half Nathan Doak making their debuts off the bench plus a try from young winger Ethan McIlroy.

Kiwi Matt Faddes put Ulster in front after seven minutes finishing off a strike move from a lineout with telling contributions from James Hume and Jacob Stockdale.

Ben Healy slotted over the simple penalty for Munster before Ulster’s second try.

After good build up play Billy Burns spotted space on the left and put a perfectly weighted cross field kick for McIlroy to catch and slid over with Cooney converting.

Cooney’s penalty gave Ulster a 15-3 lead at half time.

The second half turned into an arm wrestle with the only points going with the clock in red as Darren Sweetman got converted try for the visitors after Reid was yellowed carded.